As many of the silent era bushranger films are lost to the sands of time, either through being misplaced or destroyed, there are no opportunities to view them ourselves. Because of this we rely on reports from the time that describe the films and discuss the audience responses. This was in the days before people wrung their hands over “spoilers” and were more worried about which film would break opening weekend records.
Many tall tales are told of the various bushrangers from the “glory” days of the 1860s. It must have seemed at one stage that every man and his mother had a story to tell of Ben Hall, Frank Gardiner, Johnny … Continue reading Spotlight: Thunderbolt’s confession
This 1950s adventure movie, now lost except for the footage in this trailer, is an example of the attempt to revive the bushranger films during the mid-20th century. It seems to essentially transpose our “wild west” characters into the typical … Continue reading Spotlight: Captain Thunderbolt trailer
In the month of March, 1819, the first book published in Van Diemen’s Land was issued by Andrew Bent, editor and proprietor of ‘The Hobart Town Gazette,’ under the very hopeful and optimistic — but altogether futile — title of … Continue reading Spotlight: The Wanton Callousness of Black Michael by J. H. M. Abbott
This little piece was produced for the Sydney Morning Herald in 1947. Continue reading Spotlight: “You’ll Be Surprised” by Bill Beatty